Colorado city to stop selling ice cream at pools, parks

Published 10:55 am, Friday, July 1, 2016

BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — Boulder residents will no longer be able to cool off with an ice cream cone by the pool because the city has discontinued the sweet treat as a vending option at all Parks and Recreation facilities.

The city dropped ice cream cones, bars and sandwiches in an effort to cut down on sugary, unhealthy snacks, The Daily Camera reported (http://bit.ly/29c8YoD). City-run facilities can only sell treats that satisfy a series of nutritional standards, meaning chips and other junk food also left snack stands this year.

The change hasn't been welcomed by everyone. Andrew Gafford, 8, said he has always spent his summers enjoying a Neapolitan ice cream sandwich at the pool.

"I'll get over it, but then it brings back a lot of memories of me getting ice cream sandwiches," Andrew said. "Like this one time, when I was eating one very slowly, so it melted all over me. It makes me feel sad to say."

In a letter to the editor, which he wrote with the editorial guidance of an adult and his 6-year-old brother Thomas, Andrew said new restrictions take away teachable moments.

"Boulder can't tell the parents what to do," he said, "because the parents are doing a good job of helping us grow up and telling us the rules. I say leave it up to the moms, the grandparents, the great-grandparents."

Boulder District Services Manager Alison Rhodes said the aim is to give kids healthy choices, but that all facilities allow outside food to be brought in — including ice cream.